Avalanche Falls to Penguins 7-2

Defeat at Home

The Avalanche lost 7-2 to the Pittsburgh Penguins at Ball Arena on Monday. Nathan MacKinnon and Brent Burns scored for Colorado, while Martin Necas, Cale Makar, Josh Manson and Gavin Brindley each posted assists.

How It Happened

Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin opened the scoring at 3:01 of the first period with a spinning backhand shot from the right circle.

MacKinnon tied the game at 4:08 of the first period with his 45th goal of the season via a shot from the high slot set up by Necas' backhand feed.

With that goal, MacKinnon became the sixth player in NHL history to record at least 110 points in four-consecutive seasons, joining Wayne Gretzky (13), Mike Bossy (6), Guy Lafleur (6), Phil Esposito (5) and Marcel Dionne (4).

The Penguins took a 2-1 lead at 4:23 of the first period when Anthony Mantha scored on a breakway. 

Malkin gave Pittsburgh a 3-1 lead at 13:00 of the opening frame with a shot from the doorstep.

At 13:43 of the first period, Elmer Soderblom made it 4-1 with a shot from the left doorstep. 

Burns cut the Avs' deficit to two at 14:21 of the first period with his 10th goal of the season via a one-timer from the right point. 

With that goal, Burns recorded the 271st tally of his career and passed Bobby Orr for the seventh-most goals by a defenseman in NHL history.

Erik Karlsson gave the Penguins a 5-2 lead at 10:36 of the second period with a shot from the right point. 

Pittsburgh took a 6-2 lead when Bryan Rust scored a power-play breakaway goal off the rush at 16:20 of the middle frame.

Noel Acciari made it 7-2 in favor of the Penguins at 9:06 of the third period via a shot from the doorstep.

Next Up

The Avalanche concludes its homestand against the Dallas Stars on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. MT on TNT, HBO Max and Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM.